Ethan Happ led four Badgers in double figures with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and four steals. Fifteen of his 19 points came in the second half.

Junior forward Khalil Iverson added 16 points and 6 rebounds, but the surprise in the group came from big man Andy Van Vliet, who scored 14 points in the win.

Van Vliet entered the night having played just 14 minutes in four Big Ten games and a total of 94 minutes in 13 games overall. Thursday night, Van Vliet hit 4 of 6 from three-point range as Coach Greg Gard attempted to pull Northwestern out of its zone defense. The plan worked as the Wildcats picked up the Badgers in man-to-man in the second half.

Wisconsin hit just 7 of 26 three-pointers in the teams’ first meeting in Madison. The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-1 lead and beat UW 60-52. The Badgers adjusted and returned the favor Thursday night.

Sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl added 11 points and hit a crucial three pointer to give the Badgers a 68-64 lead with 27 seconds left to play. [Read more…]

Just days after the Wisconsin Badgers rebounded in the second half to knock off then, sixth ranked Purdue, the Badgers did it again. UW came from four down in the final minute and a half of regulation to force overtime and then beat Minnesota 73-63 on Monday night at the Kohl Center.

Earlier this season, Brevin Pritzl had a hard time throwing the ball in the ocean while standing right next to it. But Pritzl has found his stroke again, He came in averaging 12 points and 5 rebounds in the last three games. Monday night, Pritzl finished with 20 points, including 6 of 9 from three-point distance to lead the Badgers to victory. Two of the teams four overtime field goals were Pritzl three’s.

Brad Davison added 19 points, hitting 5 of 8 three-pointers. The Badgers made 12 of 29 from distance as a team.

Ethan Happ was held scoreless in the first half, but Happ scored ten points in the second half, to go along with the tying basket with 5.2 seconds left in regulation that sent the game to overtime.

Just when you didn’t think it could get any worse, the Wisconsin Badgers got off to another slow start and fell to Northwestern 60-52 at the Kohl Center on Thursday night.

Northwestern jumped out to a 18-1 lead, on their way to a much-needed victory.

The Badgers (10-14, 3-8 Big Ten) were coming off a bad loss to Nebraska on Monday, then laid an egg early against the Wildcats on Thursday night.

Northwestern (14-10, 5-6) didn’t do much in the second half, but their lead was enough to survive. Junior center Derek Pardon finished with 17 points to lead the Wildcats. Scottie Lindsey chipped in with 14.

Junior forward Khalil Iverson had 15 points and a career high nine rebounds to lead the Badgers. Ethan Happ added 14 points, Aleem Ford had 12 and freshman guard Brad Davison finished with 10 points.

The Badgers shot a season low 32.8% from the field in Big Ten play. They hit just 29.4% in the second half.

Sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl’s shooting slump continued. He finished 0 for 11 and 0 for 9 from three-point range. The Badgers as a team were 7 of 26 (26.9%) from distance for the game.

The Badgers crawled back to within six at 52-46 with 1:19 left to play, but having to foul late, they watched the Wildcats go 8 for 8 at the free throw line in that final stretch.

The Iowa Hawkeyes entered Tuesday night’s Big Ten matchup against Wisconsin with a 1-7 Big Ten record and five double-digit conference losses. But after being blown out by league-leading Purdue, the Hawkeyes rebounded for a 85-67 win over the Badgers at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

The Badgers missed their first nine shots and fell behind 9-0, a hole they would never be able to crawl out of.

Coach Greg Gard knows what he has with his offense. They’re going to struggle. But he wasn’t happy with the effort on the defensive end. Gard said, “We are not built offensively to make it a shootout.”

The Badgers (10-11, 3-5 Big Ten) were coming off a 25-point win over Illinois last Friday, but lost for the fourth time in the last five games with all four losses coming on the road.

Ethan Happ had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Khalil Iverson added 17 points and seven boards. Charlie Thomas chipped in with 10 points off the bench, but he struggled on defense too. [Read more…]

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team ended their three-game losing streak, returning to the Kohl Center and knocking off Illinois 75-50 on Friday night.

Freshman guard Brad Davison scored 18 points and Ethan Happ and Brevin Pritzl added 16 each as the Badgers posted their 12th straight win over Illinois, which is the school’s longest win streak in the history of the series.

The Badgers shot 53% from the field and improved to 10-10 overall, 3-4 in the Big Ten.

UW’s 25-point margin of victory matched the second largest for UW in a win over Illinois (95-70 victory on Jan. 8, 2014). The only larger margin came in a 26-point victory (101-75) on Jan. 19, 1974.

The Badgers set a Big Ten season high by scoring 75 points. The Badgers’ previous high in conference play came in their 71-61 win over Indiana on Jan.2.

Rutgers got 23 points from guard Corey Sanders and the Scarlet Knights went on to knock off the Wisconsin Badgers 64-60 in Big Ten men’s basketball action in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The Badgers (9-8, 2-2 Big Ten) started a stretch of five road games in the next six and saw their five-game win streak come to an end.

Rutgers (11-6, 1-3) was coming off a 31-point loss on Wednesday at Purdue and hadn’t won a game in the Big Ten so far this season. They ended a three-game losing streak.

Ethan Happ entered the night averaging 17.1 points and shooting 57.4% from the field. He finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. He added 10 rebounds but committed a season-high seven turnovers. He played just 11 minutes in the first half.

The Badgers were led by Brad Davison and Brevin Pritzl who scored 13 points each.

The Badgers made just 2 of 13 three-point shots in the loss.

Next up for Wisconsin, a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska on Tuesday night to face the Cornhuskers.

Senior guard Trevon Bluiett scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half and guard J.P. Macura added 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Xavier Musketeers to a 80-70 win over the Wisconsin Badgers in a Dave Gavitt Tipoff game at the Kohl Center.

Ethan Happ surpassed the 1,000 point mark at Wisconsin, leading three Badger players in double figures with 21 points. He also added eight assists and four rebounds.

Brevin Pritzl added 13 points and freshman Brad Davison added 12.

Statistically, Xavier was better across the board, hitting 50.9% from the field, 35.3% from three-point range and 87% from the free throw line. The Badgers made 41% of their field goals, just 29.2% from three-point range and 61.9% from the free throw line.

Yet the Badgers battled all night. They went to the locker room at halftime tied at 34-34. The Badgers led 66-64 with 2:25 left, but Xavier rebounded to pull away for the 10-point win.

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team rolled to a 85-50 season opening win over South Carolina State at the Kohl Center on Friday night.

After playing just 48 minutes all of last season, seven-foot forward Andy Van Vliet got his first opportunity last night and delivered an 18 point, eight rebound performance in the win. Van Vliet hit 4 of 5 three-pointers and 7 of 11 shots overall.